With a dull thud, the sturdy arms, one black and one white, met in a forceful clash. The jeep Black God Chak had been driving was blasted twenty-odd meters away by the shockwave, tumbling over a dozen times before it stopped skidding. The vase-shaped white kinetic energy Moha unleashed shattered, sending his body soaring dozens of meters into the air. Black God Chak staggered backward violently, retreating dozens of meters with heavy, distinct footfalls before finally stabilizing himself, only to hear a sound of tearing leather—Chak’s boots had disintegrated into countless fragments.

Moha whooped wildly in mid-air, flailing his arms. The white aura covering his body suddenly shifted to a deep, sinister, and deathly black. Waves of black energy, nearly a foot thick, enveloped him, making him look like a burning lump of coal, save that the flame was black.

The somber, killing black flames suddenly erupted in vast plumes of mist, and the visage of a ferocious Horse-Faced Wisdom King materialized behind Moha.

With his left hand clenched into a fist and his right forming a mudra, Moha drew his hands back slightly, mimicking drawing a bow. Following a sharp cry, the air before him abruptly ripped open, unleashing a long streak of white energy. A black kinetic arrow, accompanied by a faint, resonant chanting, shot towards the center of Black God Chak’s chest. The chanting echoed through the air; instead of the peace associated with Buddhist scriptures, it carried a perverse, secretive cadence that beckoned one closer to death. Within the black arrow, swirling Reverse Ten Thousand Character Buddhist seals were faintly visible, and wherever the projectile passed, the very air seemed to be tainted black.

Black God Chak looked up in horror and roared towards the sky. A continuous sound of ripping fabric followed; his clothes burst into shreds. His already powerful physique became even more imposing and massive, his muscles swelling rapidly like rising dough. Soon, his body inflated to about two and a half meters tall, every muscle rigid, emitting an eerie, bronze metallic sheen.

Gu Xiechen smirked. He pulled out the Yunshi Jian (Perception Slip) bestowed upon him by the Corpse Emperor, which contained the Nine Nether Daoist arts.

His mental energy flowed into the Yunshi Jian, and Gu Xiechen rapidly scanned the ocean of spells and incantations within. In what felt like less than a hundredth of a second, he found what he needed.

Tucking the Yunshi Jian into his Qiankun Pouch, he followed the breathing and circulation methods taught to him by Ruying on Heaven Star. The true energy in his Dantian and Qi points surged densely toward his Zifu Sea of Consciousness. A hazy, fluctuating energy—a mixture of true energy, mental waves, and certain unique forces—was successfully generated. Gu Xiechen meticulously controlled this novel power with his mind, slowly sensing external entities that could resonate with it across the distance.

His eyes fixed on the ground beneath Black God Chak’s legs, Gu Xiechen willed it. This energy, popularly termed Fa Li (Magic Power), instantly vanished from within him, reappearing beneath that patch of earth.

With three sharp "clangs," three stone spears, thick as an arm and terrifyingly sharp and hard, shot out from the ground with incredible swiftness. One impaled the troublesome appendage below Chak’s waist; another struck his **; the third, most ungracefully, pierced Black God Chak's Gu Dao (coccyx passage). The momentum of the three stone spears erupting from the ground was tremendous, yet Chak's bloated flesh could not protect his vulnerable lower half. A scream so earth-shattering and ghost-wailing erupted that Black God Chak instinctively clutched his groin, hopping about with pained cries.

The three sharp, earth-yellow stone spears slowly retracted into the ground, their tips dotted with streaks of crimson, much like the lingering blush after congress.

Then, with a tremendous "Bang," Moha’s black kinetic arrow struck squarely between the chest and abdomen of the doubled-over, hopping Chak. The potent arrow, saturated with infinite death energy, sent Chak’s massive body flying nearly a hundred meters. The black death energy relentlessly invaded Chak’s body. The grotesquely swollen Chak let out a frantic, soul-rending scream as patches of his bronze skin burst and peeled off, hitting the ground with crisp metallic clinks.

This layer of bronze skin was about an inch thick. After a series of "ding-ding-dang" sounds, Chak was surrounded by this unknown substance, and his body reverted to its normal, dark, lustrous hue.

Observing this strange bronze skin, Gu Xiechen was suddenly reminded of an old intelligence report his subordinates at the Gu Corporation had supplied—a clandestine experiment within the Federation attempting to hybridize human bodies with both carbon-based and silicon-based genes, striving to grant the flexibility of carbon-based life alongside the immense power and sturdy defense of silicon-based organisms.

This metallic-sheened bronze layer falling from Black God Chak seemed to be secreted from his muscles; clearly, Chak was a finished product of that experiment.

“The Five Major Defense Corporations? This water is truly murky!” Gu Xiechen recalled the source of that secret report: a high-ranking spy planted by the Gu Corporation deep within the Federation’s most classified scientific research labs.

Black God Chak had collapsed onto the ground, still clutching his lower body and wailing miserably. Each shedding of metallic skin felt like a torment of a thousand cuts, especially as the black death energy seeped in, gradually turning his dark skin ashen and withered. The man who was once as robust as an ox now had graying hair and a desiccated face, appearing as if he had aged twenty years overnight.

Moha grinned sinisterly as he approached Black God Chak. He clenched his fists and proceeded to pummel and kick Chak relentlessly. Fist met flesh; every kick landed solidly. Each heavy punch sank deep into Chak’s developed musculature, leaving behind bruised, purplish indentations an inch deep. Following a sequence of dull thuds against flesh and bone, Chak lay limp on the ground, lacking even the strength to shout or struggle. Moha, radiating intense killing intent, walked behind Chak and forcefully grabbed his neck, preparing to exert pressure.

With a light cough, Gu Xiechen called back the surging murderous intent of Moha. He said coldly, “Enough. We didn’t come here to cause trouble. A lesson is sufficient; amity begets wealth, after all.” Moha reluctantly released the ashen-faced Black God Chak, but not before driving a heavy knee strike into his head. Chak groaned, foamed at the mouth, and lost consciousness.

Leaping lightly from the warship, Gu Xiechen picked up the electronic notepad Chak had dropped. He tapped a few keys, and the deployment status of the barracks at Easter Island Base immediately displayed itself. He tapped a dormitory building marked green as vacant, then gestured toward the warship, calling out, “Senior and junior brothers, let’s find our resting place for the next few days. Ah, please try to pull yourselves together, won’t you?”

A continuous series of coughs echoed from within the warship, followed by a thick wave of alcoholic fumes wafting out. The more than seven hundred disciples of the Asian Daoist Alliance, both righteous and unorthodox sects, forced the alcohol vapors out of their bodies using internal energy. They tidied their metallic-gray uniforms issued by the Hardwood Corporation and emerged from the warship in ranks that were barely tolerable.

Following the map on the electronic notepad, Gu Xiechen led the others directly to Dormitory Building 17. After Gu Xiechen and his group departed, a medical transport vehicle quickly arrived at the landing pad for the deeply comatose Black God Chak, rushing him to the Easter Island Base Medical Center.

Having settled this assembly of demons and monsters invited by Ruying, Gu Xiechen, along with Ruying, Siren, Aredia, Banya, and Moha—five individuals—hurriedly proceeded to the base's Command Center.

The senior leadership sent by the Five Major Defense Corporations for the exchange conference had already gathered in the Command Center’s main hall.

The spacious hall, capable of accommodating a thousand people, was otherwise empty save for a massive circular conference table, over twenty meters in diameter, placed at the center. The five corporations each had seven or eight representatives present, all seated around the perimeter of the table.

The delegation leader for the first group was their company’s Executive Vice President, Jin Bolai, a gaunt Western European elder.

Leighton Corporation’s representative leader was Colonel Burton, a middle-aged man as bulky as a bear and as arrogant as a vulture.

Wenkett Group’s delegation head was Count Chuckum. Possessing a gentle and refined demeanor, Count Chuckum sported a thick head of golden hair and wore traditional aristocratic robes of black and red.

The representative leader for Alpine Integrated Defense was Colonel Hans. Colonel Hans was bone-thin, with a conspicuous through-and-through scar across his face, suggesting a large-caliber bullet had once passed through both his cheeks. A cold, merciless glint shone in his gray-green eyes, though his malice was clearly aimed solely at Colonel Burton.

As for the Kunlun Corporation’s delegation head, she was quite a surprise. This woman, who introduced herself as Ms. Mei, appeared to be about fifty years old—short in stature, astute, and sharp. Her short gray hair framed a face where her eyes, narrowed to slits behind rimless glasses, flashed with piercing intelligence whenever they opened or closed. As soon as Gu Xiechen and his group entered the hall, Ms. Mei nodded warmly and friendly towards Gu Xiechen, her gaze radiating genuine goodwill. She was the first to extend an unequivocal signal of friendship.

Just as he entered the hall and before he could sit down, Colonel Burton spoke haughtily, “Well, well, the rookies have guts. Attacking Kinkley’s lackey on his own turf. Ballsy!”

Colonel Hans immediately countered Colonel Burton, sneering, “Oh? Does Colonel Burton mean to say you endorse Hardwood Corporation’s provocative actions?”

Count Chuckum chuckled lightly, with that characteristic aristocratic affectation, “There, there, we are here for serious business. Let’s set aside these minor issues!”

Jin Bolai snorted, clearly displeased with Chuckum’s attempt at mediation. He raised his head with arrogance and declared, “Those who injure our group members must pay a price.”

Gu Xiechen felt a surge of annoyance and strode to the conference table, pressing both palms hard onto the gray alloy surface. He glared at Jin Bolai and scoffed, “And what might that price be, in your esteemed opinion?”

Just as Jin Bolai was about to reply, both Burton and Hans gasped in surprise, looking at Gu Xiechen’s hands. The words poised on Jin Bolai’s lips retracted back down his throat.

Glaring coldly at the representatives of the Five Major Defense Corporations, Gu Xiechen secretly circulated the Hanyuan True Canon. True energy roiled beneath his palms, encased in a faint, chilling vapor. A strange "kacha" sound echoed through the hall, like the cracking of glacial ice being torn apart by immense force during the deep winter. Under the horrified gaze of everyone present, Gu Xiechen’s hands sank into the conference table as if pressing into soft, rotten mud, gradually submerging up to his forearms.

With two loud "thunks," two transparent holes, a foot deep, were bored into the foot-thick alloy tabletop, and two metal cylinders, each a foot long, dropped heavily onto the floor. To everyone’s horror, as soon as these alloy rods hit the ground, they instantly shattered into countless sesame-seed-sized metallic grains. Their internal structure had clearly been compromised by the intense cold; the once tough and resilient metal was now as brittle as fragile glass.

Satisfied with the scattered metallic dust, Gu Xiechen dusted his hands and sat firmly in the grand chair beside the table. He nodded calmly to the people around the table and stated coolly,

“Is everyone present? Then we can begin. According to the resolution you all originally decided, whoever fails this exchange meet must swim around the island naked while clamping a corn cob between their buttocks, correct? I personally feel such a punishment is not severe enough; swimming alone is nothing. I look forward to watching you all play a triathlon around the island naked with corn cobs!”

This opening salvo of aggressive language instantly changed the expressions of everyone present, save for Ms. Mei of the Kunlun Corporation and her few aides, who remained silent.

Jin Bolai angrily slammed his hand onto the conference table, but the heavy, thick table offered no sound in response. Fuming, he glared at the alloy surface and sharply commanded, “Mr. Evil Dragon Gu Xiechen, are you issuing a challenge to us, the Five Major Defense Corporations?”

Gu Xiechen looked at Jin Bolai in feigned surprise, pulled out a cigar, and placed it between his lips. Aredia flicked her finger lightly, sending a tiny spark of fire across the air to light his cigar. After inhaling deeply and exhaling a plume of smoke with satisfaction, Gu Xiechen sneered, “It seems you’ve done quite a thorough background check on me? Tell me then, which bastard hired the sniper to assassinate me?”

Silence reigned in the conference hall. Even the ‘furious’ Jin Bolai tightly pursed his lips.

Hiring a sniper to assassinate Gu Xiechen—if he had died, someone would gladly boast about the little trick. But having the globally ranked top-three sniper captured alive proved a massive embarrassment. At the very least, it demonstrated a colossal failure in their intelligence gathering concerning Gu Xiechen. Who would admit to such a blunder?

Everyone maintained stony expressions. Ms. Mei smoothed her short hair, and under the puzzled, even shocked gaze of Jin Bolai and the others, she stood up and extended her hand to Gu Xiechen in a gesture of friendship. “Mr. Gu, we at Kunlun certainly would not resort to such underhanded methods. We support Hardwood Corporation as our industry partner, and if there is any way we can assist Hardwood, it would be our honor.”

Ms. Mei extended an olive branch to Gu Xiechen in front of everyone.